Seat Belt Replacement

[mooch29]

Has anyone ever replaced the seat belts before in their cobras? I know a few sites sell replacement Ford ones, but I really would like to mix it up and go with a different color belt. I found a few websites that offer universal replacement belts. Has anyone ever done anything like this before? I know the seat belt warning will be an issue, but I'm curious what it will take to bypass this and hope it doesn't effect anything else.

My main reason for wanting to replace the belts is that I already have the lazy belts...22k miles and both driver and passenger side belts don't want to retract :bored:

 

[WheelStander]

In...

 

[mavericks-03svt]

what color are you wanting to go with. I am assuming you probably will want to match up with your red interior. I would advise against an aftermarket replacement and bypassing the airbag light. From my understanding if the airbag light is on your airbags will probably not deploy in an accident. If it was me, I would try to find a used ford set from a junk yard in the color you are after and see if a light kicks on after install. surely ford made a set in the color you are after back in 03-04???? if not, get new OEM ford and install them. They are easy to install but if the airbag light comes on you will have to have a mechanic clear the code.

 

[mooch29]

what color are you wanting to go with. I am assuming you probably will want to match up with your red interior. I would advise against an aftermarket replacement and bypassing the airbag light. From my understanding if the airbag light is on your airbags will probably not deploy in an accident. If it was me, I would try to find a used ford set from a junk yard in the color you are after and see if a light kicks on after install. surely ford made a set in the color you are after back in 03-04???? if not, get new OEM ford and install them. They are easy to install but if the airbag light comes on you will have to have a mechanic clear the code.

I want to do red belts. I'm not positive, but the light I was talking about is the seat belt light.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe the airbags have anything to do with the seat belts? If it does have something to do with the bags then I obviously don't want to mess around with that stuff haha.

All I would have to do is find out how to make the seat belt tone to go away and turn the light off if I swapped belts. Everything else is mechanical.

 

[mavericks-03svt]

I realize now which seat belt light you are referring to. I guess the airbag light is in my head since I am an adjuster and we replace a ton of seat belts when the air bag light comes on after an accident. There is probably a way to bypass that annoying seat belt buzzing light though.

 

[mavericks-03svt]

I just went and checked out my 03. I have never had my seat belt light come on after leaving the belt off to move the car around the driveway. The previous owner cut the wires coming out of the buckle. So yes there is a way to bypass that annoying light because it looks like mine is bypassed. Have you found a ford seat belt in red yet?

 

[mooch29]

I just went and checked out my 03. I have never had my seat belt light come on after leaving the belt off to move the car around the driveway. The previous owner cut the wires coming out of the buckle. So yes there is a way to bypass that annoying light because it looks like mine is bypassed. Have you found a ford seat belt in red yet?

I figured there had to be a way because people run 5 point harnesses and get rid of the belts. They don't make Ford belts in red to fit our cars, but there is one website that offers universal belts that I can most likely make work.

Still looking for more information if anyone has any experience doing this. Cutting corners isn't something I want to do, especially with safety systems.

 

[WOTisfreedom]

IT's so annoying dealing with a seat belt that won't retract. I have been dealing with it this week, I have to manually retract it now.

 

[SilverNotch]

I replaced twice with junkyard belts and finally bought a nib ford belt from lmr. I got it for 80 bucks off their eBay store. However the ford replacements have a thinner belt. Honestly they should've been recalled.

 

[SnakeBit]

There is a solution for the seatbelt chime. I did it in my car years ago. The light only stays on for a minute or so.

Any time the safety belt is buckled and then unbuckled during an ignition ON cycle, the BeltMinder will be disabled for that ignition cycle only.

Deactivating/activating the BeltMinder feature
Read steps 1 - 9 thoroughly before proceeding with the deactivation/activation programming procedure.
The BeltMinder feature can be deactivated/activated by performing the following procedure:
Before following the procedure, ensure that the following conditions are met:
ï The parking brake is set.
ï The gearshift is in P (Park) (automatic transmission) or the neutral position (manual transmission).
ï The ignition switch is in the OFF position.
ï All vehicle doors are closed.
ï The driverís safety belt is unbuckled.
ï The parklamps/headlamps are in OFF position (If vehicle is equipped with Autolamps, this will not affect the procedure). To reduce the risk of injury, do not deactivate/activate the Belt Minder feature while driving the vehicle.
BeltMinder activation and deactivation procedure

1. Turn the ignition switch to the RUN (or ON) position. (DO NOT START THE ENGINE.)
2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off. (Approximately 1ñ2 minutes.)
ï Steps 3ñ5 must be completed within 60 seconds or the procedure will have to be repeated.
3. Buckle then unbuckle the safety belt three times, ending with the safety belt unbuckled. This can be done before or during BeltMinder warning activation.
4. Turn on the parklamps/headlamps, turn off the parklamps/headlamps.
5. Buckle then unbuckle the safety belt three times, ending with the safety belt unbuckled.
ï After step 5 the safety belt warning light will be turned on for three seconds.
6. Within seven seconds of the safety belt warning light turning off, buckle then unbuckle the safety belt.
ï This will disable BeltMinder if it is currently enabled, or enable BeltMinder if it is currently disabled.
7. Confirmation of disabling BeltMinder is provided by the safety belt warning light flashing four times per second for three seconds.
8. Confirmation of enabling BeltMinder is provided by:
ï The safety belt warning light flashing four times per second for three seconds.
ï Followed by three seconds with the safety belt warning light off.
ï Once again, the safety belt warning light will flash four times per second for three seconds.
9. After receiving confirmation, the deactivation/activation procedure is complete.

 

[mooch29]

There is a solution for the seatbelt chime. I did it in my car years ago. The light only stays on for a minute or so.

Any time the safety belt is buckled and then unbuckled during an ignition ON cycle, the BeltMinder will be disabled for that ignition cycle only.

Deactivating/activating the BeltMinder feature
Read steps 1 - 9 thoroughly before proceeding with the deactivation/activation programming procedure.
The BeltMinder feature can be deactivated/activated by performing the following procedure:
Before following the procedure, ensure that the following conditions are met:
ï The parking brake is set.
ï The gearshift is in P (Park) (automatic transmission) or the neutral position (manual transmission).
ï The ignition switch is in the OFF position.
ï All vehicle doors are closed.
ï The driverís safety belt is unbuckled.
ï The parklamps/headlamps are in OFF position (If vehicle is equipped with Autolamps, this will not affect the procedure). To reduce the risk of injury, do not deactivate/activate the Belt Minder feature while driving the vehicle.
BeltMinder activation and deactivation procedure

1. Turn the ignition switch to the RUN (or ON) position. (DO NOT START THE ENGINE.)
2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off. (Approximately 1ñ2 minutes.)
ï Steps 3ñ5 must be completed within 60 seconds or the procedure will have to be repeated.
3. Buckle then unbuckle the safety belt three times, ending with the safety belt unbuckled. This can be done before or during BeltMinder warning activation.
4. Turn on the parklamps/headlamps, turn off the parklamps/headlamps.
5. Buckle then unbuckle the safety belt three times, ending with the safety belt unbuckled.
ï After step 5 the safety belt warning light will be turned on for three seconds.
6. Within seven seconds of the safety belt warning light turning off, buckle then unbuckle the safety belt.
ï This will disable BeltMinder if it is currently enabled, or enable BeltMinder if it is currently disabled.
7. Confirmation of disabling BeltMinder is provided by the safety belt warning light flashing four times per second for three seconds.
8. Confirmation of enabling BeltMinder is provided by:
ï The safety belt warning light flashing four times per second for three seconds.
ï Followed by three seconds with the safety belt warning light off.
ï Once again, the safety belt warning light will flash four times per second for three seconds.
9. After receiving confirmation, the deactivation/activation procedure is complete.

This is awesome to know. Thanks so much!

I picked up a set of stock seatbelts to see what it's going to take to swap my belts to red. I am planning on ordering 1 belt from seatbeltsplus and seeing if I will need a custom bracket to make them work. I'll report back, may be a good solution for people with lazy belts in the future if it's a simple enough swap.

 

[mooch29]

For anyone interested, I finally bit the bullet on this project. Thread can be found here :beer:

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?1111879-My-Solution-for-Lazy-Seat-Belts